Cindy Yin
December 30, 2025
Chief executives and general managers at Sydney councils took home on average more than $480,000 a year and more than four in five bosses were paid more than NSW Premier Chris Minns.
Nine out of 34 Sydney councils paid their chief executives more than $500,000. Minns takes home $431,540 a year.
Senior ministers are paid $344,729 and MPs are paid $178,616.
Analysis of remuneration figures from councils’ 2024-25 annual reports reveals the median pay package for general managers was about $464,000, including base salary, superannuation, fringe benefits tax and non-cash benefits.
In joint operation Interpol announces 574 arrests across Africa for cybercrime; including BEC gang in Senegal and ransomware operation in Ghana
Financial Times video program on spies, scam compounds, online gambling, transnational crime and triads (30 minutes)
Georgia: DOJ seizes stolen password database used to take over bank accounts; at least $28 million stolen; gang used fake websites of real banks and harvested log in information
FTC releases new Data Spotlight on home rental fraud
Fraud Studies: Here are links to the studies I’ve written for the Better Business Bureau: puppy fraud, romance fraud; BEC fraud, sweepstakes/lottery fraud, tech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, rental fraud, gift cards, free trial offer frauds, job scams, online shopping fraud, fake check fraud and crypto scams
Fraud News Around the world
In joint operation Interpol announces 574 arrests across Africa for cybercrime; including BEC gang in Senegal and ransomware operation in Ghana
Financial Times video program on spies, scam compounds, online gambling, transnational crime and triads (30 minutes)
Georgia: DOJ seizes stolen password database used to take over bank accounts; at least $28 million stolen; gang used fake websites of real banks and harvested log in information
FTC releases new Data Spotlight on home rental fraud
- Since 2000 65,000 rental frauds reported to the FTC
- Losses of $65 million; median loss $1000
- Those 18-29 three times more likely to lose money
- See my in depth study of this issue for the BBB in 2019
Fraud Studies: Here are links to the studies I’ve written for the Better Business Bureau: puppy fraud, romance fraud; BEC fraud, sweepstakes/lottery fraud, tech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, rental fraud, gift cards, free trial offer frauds, job scams, online shopping fraud, fake check fraud and crypto scams
Fraud News Around the world
- Houston: Woman gets 65 months prison for stealing mail; must repay $1.4 million
- Indiana: Three from Honduras and here illegally get prison for cashing counterfeit paychecks; got $234,000
- France: Customs seizes 10.7 counterfeit toys sold online
- Baltimore: Two men (Nigerians?) plead guilty to money laundering ring that handled $11 million
- Singapore investigating 239 scammers and mules in most recent effort
- New Mexico: Woman gets 30 months prison for inheritance scheme that she ran for years
- India arrests six from gang that called claiming to be police
- Montana: Man from India indicted for selling fake identity documents, such as passports, online
- Big jump in AI created text message scams by delivery companies; 86% increase in fake postal service websites in the last few months
- Texas: Three men (Romanians?) arrested for stealing and altering gift cards from ten stores per day for months; got at least $14 million
- CEO of US healthcare company gets fifteen years prison; used telemarketing to contact seniors and then charge Medicare for unnecessary durable medical equipment such as knee braces; got $1 billion
- Canada: Richmond police arrest man who defrauded seniors across Canada by calling and impersonating bank employees in grandparent scam; got at least $186,000
- Kansas: Two men (Indian?) indicted for scam where they called claiming to be secret service, saying victim was to be charged with crime and needed to turn over funds to keep them “safe”
- FTC settles case against Instacart over deceptive claims; to refund $60 million
- CFPB wins summary judgment against Key Credit Repair; must repay $36 million
- FTC sends warning letters to ten companies over possible violations oF new FTC Rule on fake online reviews
- Former FTC head of BCP, Sam Levine, appointed to head NYC Office of Consumer Affairs
- Missouri: Man indicted for PPP fraud; got $35,000
- Kansas City: Woman gets 18 months prison for PPP fraud; got $250,000
- Boston: Two men from Haiti arrested for stealing $7 million in SNAP foodstamp benefits
- Texas: Co-Founder of lender service gets ten years for PPP fraud; got $65 million
- Little Rock: Woman gets two years prison for PPP fraud; got $2.1 million
- Kansas: Two men indicted for PPP fraud; got $2.25 million
- Pennsylvania: Woman gets nine months house arrest for PPP fraud; got $60,000
- Washington, DC: Woman gets ten years prison for fentanyl dealing, also for theft of unemployment benefits and PPP fraud
- Texas: Bank vice president gets four years prison for PPP fraud; got $573,000
- Texas: Jury convicts Nigerian man of PPP fraud and also theft of unemployment benefits
- Hawaii: Woman pleads guilty to theft of unemployment benefits
- Boston: Man pleads guilty to PPP fraud as well as theft of checks from the mail; got $50,000 from PPP; $382,000 from checks
- Utah: Woman gets 15 months prison for PPP fraud; got $177,000
- Thailand hosts conference on fraud with UN office of drugs and crime; announce worldwide partnership
- Canada: CTV video piece on scam compounds and crypto romance fraud
- Cambodia: Police, working with South Korean police, raid scam compound, rescue one and arrest 26 South Koreans
- Authorities discover scam compounds operating on the small country of Palau
- WSJ on scam compounds in Cambodia and Thailand
- Maryland: Nigerian man extradited from Ghana convicted by jury of BEC fraud
- Nigeria arrests man for hacking Microsoft 365 accounts; apparently to support BEC fraud
- Detroit: FBI and International partners take down websites of crypto exchange used for money laundering; handled $70 million
- SEC sues three trading platforms and investment clubs using social media to promote investments in nonexistent crypto tokens
- Crypto hackers stole $2.7 billion in 2025; $2 billion of that by North Korea
- Illinois: Ukrainian man who was extradited to the US pleads guilty to ransomware
- Two men who had worked with Israeli cyber-security company, plead guilty to ransomware fraud
- Attack hits Romanian national water supply agency